Bibi Anker

‘If It Had Been’ is a personal exploration of the transformation of the human body over time – a meditation on fragility, memory and the gentle unravelling of the self. The work invites the viewer to sit with the discomforts we often avoid: ageing, change and the passing of time.

Bibi Anker uses her favourite palette knife, acrylic paint, coloured pencils and pastel chalk to create textured works that radiate vulnerability and self-reflection. By intuitively working with everything that bothers her about her own being, while still leaving room for interpretation, she is able to create works that feel deeply personal, yet universally familiar. Her own experiences with these subjects are shown in raw, pure revelation, allowing the reader to see these hard truths through her eyes — that she hasn't always been who she wants to be, but that she has time to grow — if she seizes the moment before it's gone.

Bibi is graduating from the Comic Design programme at ArtEZ after four years of development and growth, supported by talented teachers, fellow students, and her own bold spirit. Her graduation project explores what it means to live in a body that is always in the process of becoming and un-becoming, and is a springboard to many more years of growing pains, this time with more experience and a degree.